All year there was this talk about the deadliest backcourt in the Big 12. Every time the topic was brought up, two names mentioned every time were senior Denis Clemente and junior Jacob Pullen.

Kansas State rode their guards through most of the NCAA Tournament. The two guards put up huge numbers, looking to be virtually unstoppable — before they knuckled up with Butler.

The dynamic duo did it all season with the three balls. If it was your first game watching either of them, you would probably be wondering how Frank Martin lives with Clemente’s shot selection. But as you watch more you understand how his errant shots find the basket.

Another thing you can understand is filling the shoes of Clemente will not be easy. Clemente was a guard that gave instant offense, whether he lit it up from downtown or floated the ball up in the lane.

The most memorable game in recent memory was against Xavier, Clemente took the game over in the second half while Pullen sat on the bench with foul trouble. Clemente kept the Wildcats in the up-and-down game, and finished with 25 points.

After the loss to Butler, Clemente’s career at K-State has come to a close, and the super-quick guard is off to possibly join a NBA team.

So who is going to fill the huge shoes of Clemente?

Rodney McGruder had promising moments, but the Wildcats have yet to see him on the court consistently, same with freshman Nick Russell. Martavious Irving has been a good guard off the bench, but is not as nearly as aggressive as Clemente, nor has he shown the scoring mentality.

So the predecessor for Clemente is unclear.

Here are the current and future guards for the 2010-11 basketball season: Irving, Russell, McGruder, and incoming players Will Spradling and Shane Southwell.

All of them have the potential to help spark the backcourt, but finding one player to fill Clemente’s shoes will be tough. Russell and McGruder collectively can work, and here’s why…

Both McGruder and Russell played well this season, and one could draw the conclusion that once both of them get quality minutes they will blossom into the scorers Frank Martin recruited.

McGruder is a slashing guard. He likes to penetrate in the lane, and is very aggressive with his point of attack. His first dribble is deadly, and his floater seems to go in every time.

McGruder also showed his maturity, stepping up on the big stages. Against Texas the lay-up over Dogus Balbay, against Kansas his and-one move that sent the game into overtime, or his points in the NCAA Tournament that gave Kansas State offense prove that.

For whatever reason, McGruder was a garbage guy. Earlier this year in an interview with Frank Martin he stated, “He’s got one of those unique talents that’s hard to teach. The ball finds him. Sometimes on defense he’s lost, he’s running around trying to figure out what’s going on and the ball ends up in his hands.”

McGruder can bring the slashing ability, floater, maturity, and the mid-range jump shot of Clemente.

Then there’s freshman guard Russell. Many Wildcat fans may scratch their head, asking themselves “who?”

Russell is a 6’4’’ guard from Duncanville, TX. Kansas State has seen very little of Russell this season, but his jump shot will be hard to keep him off the floor next year.

Russell came into K-State as one of the premier point guards in the country. He was nabbed as the No. 89 overall prospect and No. 38 point guard according to ESPN.

He can be an explosive combo-guard due to his physical features. Not to mention, he can handle the ball as well as anyone with is size. He thrives on sharing the basketball, rebounding and it would not matter to him if he scored one-point, as long as the Wildcats were victorious he would be happy.

Russell’s mid-range pick and pop on a lazy defender will bring another dimension to this offense, but his three point shooting, mid-range, and finishing ability will benefit the Wildcats like Clemente did.

Over this basketball off-season expect Russell and McGruder both to continue to work on their frame, jump shot, ball-handling ability, and defense.

Clemente’s shoes are huge and will be tough to fill, but put two players in the rotation that both share similar qualities of the great K-State guard should be enough to fulfill the void.